Man Apologizes, Is Arrested

A man accused of stabbing his grandmother was arrested Friday after he called the Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Office from Orlando and said he was sorry, deputies said.

Ernest Wallace Jr., 22, of West Palm Beach was captured about 9 a.m. in an Orlando motel while he talked on the phone to sheriff`s detective Wes Buxton, sheriff`s spokesman Mike McNamee said.

Buxton kept Wallace on the line until Orange County sheriff`s deputies had time to break into the motel room and arrest him, McNamee said.

``He called up to say he was sorry about what he did to his grandmother,`` McNamee said. ``He was still talking when they came in and arrested him.

Wallace was charged with the attempted murder of his 78-year-old grandmother, Gladys Souerwine, of Purdy Road, west of West Palm Beach.

Souerwine told detectives her grandson tried to smother her with a pillow while she slept about 3 a.m. Thursday. She said she struggled free only to be stabbed repeatedly by Wallace, who was demanding money.

Wallace, who was spending the night at his grandmother`s house, then drove off in her car, McNamee said.

Souerwine was transferred from Doctors Hospital near Lake Worth to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she was being treated for the stab wounds.

Wallace was expected to be moved from Orlando to the the Palm Beach County Jail Friday, McNamee said.